


It's Okay (It was Just a Little Tumble)

by CastielFollowMe



Series: Single Dad Shiro Verse [49]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Anxiety, Fluff, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Major Character Injury, Panicked Shiro, Tumbles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-10
Updated: 2017-02-10
Packaged: 2018-09-23 08:50:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,418
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9648683
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CastielFollowMe/pseuds/CastielFollowMe
Summary: Shiro normally isn't one to panic, after all he was trained in a special ops unit in the military, so it's not in Shiro's nature to panic. Unless it involves Keith. Then Shiro will always panic.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: "The dad shiro one shot was so good! Thank you! Whenever you get the opportunity, I think it would be so cute, especially because Baby Keef seems accident prone, if he could bonk his noggin as like a 6 year old. Maybe while he's at the park with Shiro or something because having an unconscious lil boy would probably freak Shiro out and I love that kind of stuff. You're so talented. Hope your day is good!"

It turns out that Keith enjoyed daily visits to the park.

Shiro was surprised after the first few visits when Keith seemed to enjoy going to the park, and Shiro was just thankfully that he could get Keith out of the house and exercising. But apparently the boy liked the outdoors, especially considering this park was secluded with trees and plants all over.

Shiro was more sad that he couldn’t bring Keith to the park _every_ day, but between school and Shiro’s work there just wasn’t enough time in the day to always go to the back. Shiro was lucky that Keith didn’t throw a fit like many other kids at six-years-old might, but that didn’t mean that Keith didn’t brood. However, Shiro tried to make it so that they could go to the park, every weekend. Sometimes it was just Keith and Shiro and other times Shiro brought along Lance, Hunk and Pidge and occasionally Allura and Coran would join them (though Shiro made sure to _never_ leave Coran in charge of the kids, _ever_ again).

Today was one of the days that Shiro had invited the other kids to come along with him and Keith, much to Keith’s excitement. Although, Keith wasn’t about to let Lance and the others know that. No, no. He would instead look like he was annoyed by their presences and then continue to scowl.

Shiro simply shook his head at Keith’s antics but knew within a matter of minutes that Keith would be sure to include his friends in all of his activities such as who could build the biggest sand castles, who could swing the highest, who found the best hiding spot. Shiro noticed that Keith tended to play _competitive_ games, not that there was anything wrong with that, but Shiro couldn’t help by maybe suggest some better games.

At least the kids were having fun.

At the moment, Keith was helping to apply hand sanitizer onto Pidge’s from the hand sanitizer that Shiro kept in his “Dad Pack” which was really just an outdated fannypack, as Lance had called it so delicately. Shiro’s expression was more one of reluctance than any sort of annoyance.

Lance was currently trying to shove Hunk up the small slide they were closest too and Shiro was thankful that there were hardly any kids there. Lance and Hunk didn’t seem to be making any progress in the six minutes that they had been trying while Pidge and Keith were washing their hands.

“C’mon Hunk, use your legs!” Lance grunted as he turned around to try and shove Hunk up on his back.

“I am! What do you think I’ve been using?!” Hunk cried, touching the tip of the slide with the barest parts of his fingertips.

“Try harder! You’re a leg man!” Lance said, face slowly turning red as Keith and Pidge finally finished. However, they and Shiro simply watched the two struggle.

“I’m a leg!” Hunk screamed, using the extra boost in his energy to leap off Lance and grab the edge of the slide. Lance toppled backwards from the momentum, falling flat on his back while Keith doubled over with laughter. Pidge’s lips twitched in a grin and Hunk finally managed to pull himself upright, before pounding his hands against his chest and yelling in victory. Shiro shook his head despite the cautious looks thrown their way.

“Me next. me next!” Keith scrambled up after Hunk, shoving past Lance who protested loudly at the movement. Lance was quick to jump after Keith, on his other side and race up after them.

“No! Me! It’s my turn, you jerk!” Lance yelled as he and Keith reached the top at the same time.

“Boys.” That was all that Shiro had to say before Keith and Lance’s shoulders had both slumped and the two nodded carefully. Thankfully neither had continued with their argument, but instead once Pidge had joined them, the four were racing off through the playground together. Shiro couldn’t help but smile when he noticed that they had all held hands with one another.

“Pidge, what’s your ETA?” Lance whispered loudly, with one hand pressed against his ear as if talking through an imaginary communication device.

“We’re in.” Pidge said just as loudly. She and Keith were both crawling across a wobbling rope bridge. Lance was hiding out on top of a swirly slide while Hunk was standing at a wheel that was attached to the side of the playground.

“Good, Hunk, how’re we looking from the front?” Lance continued, eyeing invisible targets. Hunk nervously continued twisting and turning the wheel.

“I-I dunno guys. I don’t see anything.” Hunk stated and Keith rolled his eyes.

“Since when did we make Lance the leader?” He mumbled under his breath and Pidge shrugged.

“Ah, the most handsome, dedicated and best pilot is the only one who can be the leader.” Lance grinned as he formed a pose that clearly showed off what muscle he had.

“Exactly. Why are you the leader then?” Keith continued, while Lance cried out defensively. He stomped against the sliding pouted with arms crossed over his chest, while Keith snickered and even Hunk managed a smile at the display.

“Stop being such a sourpuss Keith! It’s bad for the mission!” Lance argued loudly while Keith sighed. He and Pidge were just about to stand up on the wobbly bridge when it all went downhill. Pidge had eagerly decided to jump off the bridge and onto firmer ground, with Keith right behind them. However, the force of Pidge’s jump ahead of him made the wobbly bridge even more unstable. Unfortunately for Keith, that meant stumbling backwards, which was a small handrail.

And Keith had managed to fall _through_ the bars, onto the ground below.

All of the air left Keith when his body hit the ground, and it only took seconds before the six-year-old found his vision going black and the last things that Keith heard was Pidge, Lance and Hunk screaming out for him.

_Keith!_

x.V.x

Shiro had been enjoying the time at the park. He’d managed to get through a couple of chapters of his book, while constantly looking up and listening to the kids. They were never out of sight and they were old enough that Shiro was able to stop _hovering_ over them the entire time. Though, they were due for a snack break in the next few minutes.

Shiro had closed his book and was about to call them over when he heard the scream.

_“Keith!”_

In less than a second, he was on his feet (book forgotten) and he was sprinting to where he could see Hunk, and Pidge on the playground. As he got closer and closer to them, he could finally make out two figures on the ground. One was rocking back and forth, clearly panicked as their arms flapped wildly. The other was lying motionless on the ground.

It only took Shiro less than a second to realize that it was Keith who was motionless and Lance who was on the verge if panicking. By the looks of it, Pidge and Lance weren’t too far behind him.

 _I only looked away for less than a minute! How did I let this happen?_ Shiro could feel his guilty conscious creeping in on his thoughts and the idea of slight panic never seemed so real than it did in that very moment. All Shiro could even begin to think about was that Keith was on the ground. Unconscious. Unmoving. Possibly hurt.

“Keith!” Lance, Hunk and Pidge all stared with bright, big and teary eyes as Shiro sprinted over to them before kneeling beside Keith’s prone figure. It was even more worrisome that Keith didn’t even so much as flinch when Shiro dropped down right beside him.

“Keith, sweetheart? Can you hear me? Sweetheart, please open your eyes?” Shiro practically begged. His hands hovered over Keith’s prone body, shaking with fear, and unsure of what to do. _Do I move him and risk it if he’s hurt his neck? Should I check for a pulse? What if there is no pulse? What if he’s not breathing either? Why haven’t I checked his breathing? What do I do?_

“Keith, sweetheart? Please open your eyes for daddy. Please. Please.” Shiro begged once more and he heard Lance and the others beginning to shuffle beside them. Normally, he would have tried to get them to give Keith some kind of space, but Shiro wasn’t exactly in the best of minds at the moment.

“Keith. Please, sweetheart! Just open your eyes for daddy. You’re alright. You’re alright.” Shiro’s hands shook again as they stayed above Keith’s body. Even his prosthetic was shaking.

“I’m sorry Mr. Shiro! It’s all my fault!” Shiro heard Pidge yell from behind him. Despite the adrenaline and fear that was running through him right now, Shiro could feel his heart beginning to break for the little child. _Oh Pidge. If anyone is at fault, it’s me._

Shiro’s mind was racing a hundred miles an hour and his heart was seconds away from leaping out of his chest. _What do I do? What do I do?_

“Please Keith.” Shiro whispered, voice cracking and yet Keith still did not move.

 _Calm down daddy._ Shiro’s wet eyes blinked rapidly when he could hear a tiny, _familiar_ voice floating into his head. His hands froze over Keith’s chest and his eyes widened. _You need to calm down, it’ll be okay daddy. Just take a deep breath and calm down. You were trained in the military to act calm and take in the situa-t-ion._

Slowly, Shiro could feel his hands beginning to shake less and less. The world around him became less muffled and he could understand the noises that surrounded him much better than before. He could hear the other children crying all around him, as Lance tried to kneel next to Keith. he could see the small _rise_ and fall of Keith’s chest from where he was laying.

_Patience yields fosus. ‘Member that._

Carefully, Shiro took a deep breath and put his regular hand over Keith’s neck, where he found a _steady_ pulse beating under his finger tips. Once more, Shiro released a breath he hadn’t realized that he had been holding.

“Lance, Hunk, Pidge.” Shiro finally spoke up, noting the way that his voice had remained calm without hesitation. He looked up from Keith’s slack face to meet the teary stares of the kids. Gently, He gave Lance a pat on the shoulder. “I know you must feel bad, all of you, but this wasn’t your fault. It was simply an accident and there was nothing any of you could have done to prevented it. We all get hurt.”

When he noticed Pidge opening their mouth to speak, he smiled softly. “It’s alright Pidge. This wasn’t your fault. Keith fell and it was an accident but he’s going to be okay. He just hit his head and it knocked him out. Keith will be okay. But I need you all to give him a little space, okay? Can you do that for me?” It took a few seconds, but eventually all three kids nodded and slowly Lance moved to stand by Pidge and Hunk. Thankfully, none of them left Shiro’s line of sight.

Just as Shiro was turning back to his son, he found Keith stirring and Keith’s cheek brushed against the tips of his fingers. Calming his frantic heart, Shiro forced himself to keep quiet as he looked down at his son, who was beginning to shift. _He’s able to move all of his limbs which is a good sign. I haven’t felt any swelling yet._

Keith began to blink tiredly, until his eyes slowly opened half-way to look at Shiro. Shiro had never been so glad to see those beautiful blue eyes that reflected violet in the sun. Shiro carefully maneuvered his body so that it blocked the sun when Keith opened his eyes.

“Daddy?” Keith frowned in confusion when he tried to sit up. He was gently helped up into an upright position, where Shiro immediately began to poke and prod at Keith’s back, neck and head for any sign of injury. Other than a large lump on the back of Keith’s head, he seemed to have escaped with little to no injuries. Not even a bruise.

Finally Shiro felt like he could breathe again.

“Oh Keith, thank goodness my little star!” Shiro smiled softly and stroked Keith’s cheek.

“Daddy? What’s going on? Why are you here?” Keith asked tiredly and Shiro smiled.

“Do you remember what happened?”

Keith’s frown deepened. “No?”

“You fell off the bridge! That’s what happened! You fell right off and hit your head until you were asleep and it was all my fault!” Pidge pouted with big fat tears rolling down their cheeks. Shiro’s stomach churned at the small child’s guilt and he attempted to comfort them, as he pulled them over to Keith. However, before he could speak, Keith had wrapped an arm around Pidge’s neck before pulling them on top of him. Shiro jumped, quickly holding Keith and Pidge upright.

“Not your fault!” Keith huffed. “It was an accident so stop blaming yourself, it’s gross.”

“But I made the bridge wobbly!”

“It’s called the wobble bridge for a reason, Pidge. You explained why but I got bored and didn’t listen.” Keith said with a dramatic sigh. Shiro took that as a good sign that Keith would be more than just fine. Quietly, he began to grab an ice pack out of his “Dad Pack.”

“It was an accident. And if you blame yourself one more time, Ima make sure Zarkon gets you.” Shiro snickered at the horrified look on Pidge’s face and the squawk that they made. He was quite surprised when Pidge hugged Keith once more and Keith did not push them away as usual. When Shiro was just about to put the ice pack on Keith’s head, he felt Hunk and Lance both sprint past him before glomping Keith. Of course, Keith protested loudly, with a fake roll of his eyes, but deep down Shiro knew that Keith was touched by all the hugs.

“Aw, how cute.” Shiro snapped more than one picture of the cuddle pile before applying the cold pack to the back of Keith’s head. He grinned when Keith shot him a grateful smile and winked. Then he scooped _all_ four children into his arms and held them close.

“Cuddle fest!”


End file.
